Reading fans won't have failed to notice the club has not signed a player, more than a month into the summer transfer window.
Financial problems have thus far led to them being unable to carry out any business.
According to numerous reports, Jose Gomes' side have been hit with a 'soft embargo' which means they are unable to sign any players unless they get approval from the English Football League (EFL).
Due to large expenditure on transfer fees, contracts and salaries over the past three years, Royals are reportedly close to breaching Profit and Sustainability guidelines set out by the League.
The financial accounts of Renhe Sports Management Co Limited - Reading's parent company, controlled by owner Dai Yongge - show a loss for 2017/18 of £28.9million, with Royals requiring £50m of financing across the season to stay afloat.
Losses the year before had been a more respectable £1.5m.
Clubs are permitted to post only adjusted losses of £39m across a three-year period - or £15m if a club's owner does not provide any equity.
So, what do the EFL rules say about placing Championship clubs with this sort of financial track record under embargo?
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A Championship club "which fails to fulfil the fair play requirement in accordance with [the] rules shall be subject to a registration embargo," the EFL says.
One of the key rules places a restriction on the wages that can be paid to an incoming player, which last year were £600,000 per year.
Alternatively, under the one-in-one-out system of a soft embargo, the player coming in may only have wages that are 75 per cent of the annual equivalent cost of the a player going out ("calculated as an average over the term of the remaining period of both players’ contracts," the EFL says).
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The rules also allow for the signing of players under the age of 21 - but they are not permitted play any first team matches and can have wages no higher than £60,000 per annum.
Overall, Championship clubs subject to an embargo "shall not be permitted to pay or commit to pay any transfer fee, compensation fee, loan fee or any other form of payment including without limitation sell on and/or contingent payments."
Meanwhile, they are prevented from making payments to agents.
Based on the information available, this is not the form of embargo Reading are reported to be under.
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Championship clubs subject to an embargo are permitted to apply to have the embargo lifted, granted that the club can demonstrate that information in their accounts submitted to the EFL's FFP panel demonstrates it will "fulfil the fair play requirement for that reporting period."
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